Door shelf



Nov. 8, 1960 c, LARSON 2,959,297

DOOR SHELF Filed Sept. 2, 1958 INVENTOR. CHARLES 0. LARSON ATTY United States Paten DOOR SHELF Charles 0. Larson, P.0. Box 358, Sterling, 111.

Filed Sept. 2, 1958, Ser. No. 758,329

7 Claims. (Cl. 211-90) This invention relates to a shelf and clothes hanger adapted to be supported over the upper edge of a door or the like.

Shelves have been provided heretofore to be supported from the upper edge of a door such as a closet door or some similar support member. Some of the prior shelves of this type have been bulky whereby to require substantial space during shipment and storage thereof before use. In order to overcome the disadvantages of the bulky construction, some of the prior devices have been made foldable. Although these devices in general occupied less space than the similar non-foldable devices, they were not so satisfactory in use since they were not sufliciently rigid. In addition the foldable shelf, although occupying less space than the rigid shelf, still required substantial space for shipment and storage.

Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is to provide an improved shelf and clothes support to be hung from the upper edge of a door or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shelf and clothes support of the type set forth which can be disassembled into a plurality of small compact pieces which can be readily packaged in a small box or container.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a shelf and clothes support of the type set forth which can be readily assembled, the assembly being accomplished easily and without the use of any tools. 1

A further object of the invention is to provide a shelf and clothes support structure of the type set forth which also can be firmly fastened on the door or similar support structure for permanent mounting if desired.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. In the drawing wherein like reference numerals have been utilized to designate like parts throughout:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a shelf and clothes support of the present invention shown assembled and mounted upon the upper edge of a door or similar support member;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view in perspective showing one preferred assembly of parts to mount the shelf and clothes support upon the door;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in vertical section through the support for the shelf and clothes support of Fig. 1 substantially as seen in the direction of the arrows along the line 3-3 thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a permanent mounting of the shelf and clothes support of the present invention upon a door or the like.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawing, there is shown a shelf and clothes support generally designated by the numeral assembled and in mounted position upon a door generally designated by the numeral 12. The door is provided with an upper edge 14 and a pair of parallel generally vertically extending surfaces, sides or faces 16 and 18. The shelf 10 is mounted upon the door 12 by a pair of support brackets 20. Each of the support brackets ice 20 is generally J-shaped in cross section as can be best seen from Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing and includes a main plate 22 adapted to be disposed along the surface 16 of the door 12, a rear plate 24 shorter than the main plate 22 and adapted to be disposed along the door surface 18, and a top plate 26 interconnecting the upper edges of the main plate 22 and the rear plate 24 and marring of the door surface. Five of the bearing members 30 are provided as illustrated in the drawing. The rear plate 24 is provided with a similar series of depressions or bumps which provide bearing members 32' thereon. Three of the bearing members 32 are provided in horizontal alignment on the rear plate 24 and are adapted to bear against the surface 18 of the door 12. The bearing members 30 and 32 permit easy mounting of the support brackets 20 upon the door 12 Without marring or L scarring the surfaces 16 and 18 of the door 12.

Depending downwardly from each of these support brackets 20 is a vertical member or channel 34. Each of the channels 34 is U-shaped in cross section and provided with a pair of substantially parallel flanges 36 connected by a web 38. The upper end of each of the support channels 34 is preferably closed by an upper flange 40. Means is provided to mount the channel members 34 on the support brackets 20 including an attachment bracket or member generally designated by the numeral 42. The construction of the member 42 can be best seen by reference to Figs. 2, 3, and 4 of the drawing. Each of the members 42 includes a U-shaped port-ion including a center member 44 provided on opposite edges thereof with a pair of integral parallel flanges 46 disposed substantially perpendicular to the plane of the center member 44. Formed on the outer edge of each of the flanges 46 is an outwardly extending flange or ear 48 which is preferably rounded at the end thereof as at 50. The flanges 46 have aligned circular apertures 52 therein and the ears 50 have openings or apertures 54 therein for a purpose which will be described more fully hereafter.

Each of the support brackets 20 is provided with a rectangular opening 56 in substantially the center of the main plate 22 thereof to receive therethrough the center member 44 and the side flanges 46 of the attachment bracket 42. These members also are adapted to fit within the upper end of a channel member 34. In addition, the upper end of the channel member 34 has apertures 57 therein in alignment with the apertures 52 in the side flanges 46. These aligned apertures 57 receive therethrough a rivet 58 provided with a head 60 at one end thereof. An opening 62 is formed in the rivet adjacent to the other end thereof to receive therethrough a cotter pin 64. With the parts assembled as described above, the ears 48 are disposed behind the main plate 22 of the support bracket 20 as is shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The flanges 46 extend through the opening 56 and into the upper end of the channel member 34. The rivet 58 holds the channel member on the attachment bracket 42 whereby to connect the channel member 34 to the support bracket 26. The disposition of the parts in such that the bearing surfaces 30 extending rearwardly from the main plate 22 of the support brackets 20 bear against the adjacent surface 16 of the door 12 and hold all other parts including the attachment bracket 42 out of engagement therewith.

Connected to the lower ends of the vertical channel members 34 and extending outwardly therefrom are horizontal channel or support members generally designated by the numeral 66. The channel members -66-are also U-shaped in vertical sectionand include a pair of parallel side flanges 68 connected by a web 70. One end of the channel member 66 is closed byan end flange 72 formed integral with the flange 70 and turned downwardly between the flanges 68. The other end of achannel member 66 is adapted to be inserted into achannel member 34 between a pair of ears 74 formed on the lower end thereof. The cars 74 and the associated end of the flanges 68 have aligned apertures therein to receive one of the rivets 58 therethrough, a cotter pin 64 holding the rivet in the assembled position.

In order to maintain the channel members 34 and 66 in substantially a perpendicular relationship, a brace member 76 is provided to interconnect these channel members. The brace member 76 is U-shaped in cross section and includes a pair of flanges 78 joined by a web 80. The flanges 78 are spaced apart a distance such that they can be disposed on the outer side of the vertical channel member 34 and the horizontal channel member 66. Outwardly extending cars 82 are formed on each end of the brace member 76 to receive through aligned apertures 83 therein one of the rivets 58 held in position by a cotter pin 64. In this manner the brace member 76 serves to hold the channel members 34 and 66 in a perpendicular relationship so that the channel members '66 are disposed horizontally in the installed position.

A shelf is formed by providing members interconnecting the parallel and horizontal channel members 66. More specifically, a plurality of shelf rods 84 is provided to interconnect the channel members 66. Each of the shelf rods has a circular cross section and is provided at each end thereof with a downturned arm or end 86 which is inserted through an aperture 87 in the flange 70. Five of the shelf rods 84 have been shown in the drawing for purposes of illustration. It is to be understood that a greater or lesser number of shelf rods may be provided as desired.

The shelf rods 84 also provide clothes supports to receive and support the hooks of clothes hangers and the like. It also may be desirable to add -a sliding hanger support as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The sliding support is designated by the numeral 88 and is generally U-shaped. More specifically, a pair of upstanding legs 90 is provided, the legs 90 being interconnected by a member 92. The free ends of the legs 90 are provided with eyes 94 which receive one of the shelf rods 84 therethrough whereby to mount the sliding support upon spaced apart shelf rods 84.

From the above description it will be seen that each of the separate parts of the shelf and clothes support is small and compact. Furthermore, the individual parts of the shelf and clothes support can be formed into a small package for shipment and storage in a small box or container.

After the parts have arrived at their destination, they can be easily assembled without the use of tools. It will be seen that all of the parts are assembled by the rivets 58 and the cotter pins 64 or by simply placing one part in an aperture in another part. Each of these operations can be carried out manually without the use of any tools whereby to provide for easy assembly of the shelf and clothes support 10. Furthermore, in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1-3 of the drawing, the shelf support is mounted upon an associated structure such as the door 12 without marring or scarring the door. This is particularly made possible by the bearing members 30 and 32 of the support brackets 26. The lower ends of the vertical channel members 34 are also rounded whereby to eliminate marring'and scarring of the support structure.

In certain cases it is desirable to provide a morepermanent mounting for the shelf and clothes support 10. In such a case the support brackets 20 may be eliminated and the attachment brackets 42 utilized to mount the other parts upon a support surface. Such a mounting is illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing wherein the assembly has been shown mounted upon a support member designated by the numeral 96. In this installation the attachment bracket 42 receives through the openings 54 thereof screws 98 which are mounted in the usual fashion in the support member 96. The vertical channel members 34 can then be mounted on the attachment bracket 42 by passing the rivet through the aligned apertures 52 in the attachment bracket 42 and in the upper end of the channel member 34 disposed over the attachment bracket 42. This will provide for a more permanent mounting of the shelf and clothes support 10 upon the support member 96.

It will be seen that there has been provided a shelf and clothes support which fulfills all the objects and advantages set forth above. Although on preferred embodiment of the invention and one modification thereof have been shown in the drawing and described for pur poses of illustration, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly the invention is to be remitted only as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A shelf and clothes support for mounting upon a door or the like comprising a pair of spaced apart vertical channel members, means to mount said vertical channel members upon the door with the free edges of the channel members disposed toward the door, a horizontal channel member mounted on each of said vertical channel members adjacent to the lower end thereof, the 'free edges of said horizontal channel members being disposed downwardly, a channel shaped brace member disposed between each of said vertical channel members and the associated horizontal channel member to hold said channel members substantially perpendicular to each other, fastening means interconnecting said vertical channel members and said horizontal channel members and said brace members, said fastening means being manually operable without the use of tools, and a plurality of shelf members releasably connected to said hori zontal channel members and disposed therebetween to provide a shelf.

2. A shelf and clothes support as set forth in claim 1, wherein the shelf members are elongated rods having downturned ends disposed in apertures in the horizontal channel members to mount said rods substantially parallel to each other.

3. A shelf and clothes support as set forth in claimiZ, wherein a sliding support is provided on the shelf rods, said sliding support including a pair of legs interconnected by a rod, the free ends of the legs having eyes receiving a shelf rod therethrough whereby the shelf rods slidably support said sliding support therebeneath.

4. A shelf and clothes sup-port for mounting upon a door or the like comprising a pair of spaced apart support brackets including portions adapted to engage over the top of a door, bearing members formed on said support brackets to space the major portion of the brackets from the associated door, an attachment member mounted on each of said support brackets and extending outwardly therethrough, a vertical channel member associated with each of said attachment members and having one end thereof disposed adjacent to the associated attachment member and having the free edges thereof disposed toward the associated door, fastening means interconnecting the upper end of each of said vertical channel members and the associated attachment member, a horizontal channel member mounted on each'of' said vertical channel members adjacent to the lower .end

thereof, the-free edgesof saidhorizontalchannel mem-f ber being disposed downwardly, a channel-shaped brace member disposed between said vertical channel member and said horizontal channel member to hold said channel members substantially perpendicular to each other, fastening means interconnecting said channel members and said brace member, said fastening means being manually operable without the use of tools, and shelf members releasably connected to said horizontal channel members and disposed therebetween to provide a shelf.

5. A shelf and clothes support as set forth in claim 4, wherein the shelf members are elongated rods having downturned ends disposed in apertures in the horizontal channel members to mount said rods substantially parallel to each other.

6. A shelf and clothes support as set forth in claim 5, wherein a sliding support is provided on the shelf rods, said sliding support including a pair of legs interconnected by a rod, the free ends of the legs having eyes receiving a shelf rod therethrough whereby the shelf rods slidably support said sliding support therebeneath.

7. A shelf and clothes support for mounting upon a door or the like comprising a pair of spaced apart support brackets including portions adapted to engage over the top of a door, bearing members formed on said support brackets to space the major portion of the brackets from the associated door, a vertical channel member associated with each of said support brackets and having one end thereof disposed adjacent to the associated support bracket, fastening means interconnecting the upper end of each of said vertical channel members and the associated support bracket, a horizontal channel'member mounted on each of said vertical channel members adjacent to the lower end thereof, a channel-shaped brace member disposed between each vertical channel member and its horizontal channel member to hold said channel members substantially perpendicular to each other, fastening means interconnecting said channel members and said brace member, and shelf members releasably connected to said horizontal channel members and disposed therebetween to provide a shelf.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 674,586 Riley May 21, 1901 957,324 Gall May 10, 1910 1,224,016 Petersen Apr. 24, 1917 1,260,807 Reed Mar. 26, 1918 2,284,393 Henry May 26, 1942 2,508,527 Martin May 23, 1950 2,633,998 Derman Apr. 7, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 82,297 Norway Aug. 24, 1953 536,476 Canada Jan. 29, 1957 

